The Armenian prisoners illegally held in Azerbaijani capital Baku are completely isolated, as the activities of the Red Cross have actually been suspended in Azerbaijan. This was stated Wednesday in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am by lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, who represents the aforesaid Armenian prisoners’ interests at the European Court of Human Rights.

Sahakyan added that although the Red Cross office will legally maintain its presence in Azerbaijan until September, it cannot carry out substantive activities.

“These persons are kept in completely isolated conditions, contact with the outside world is maintained exclusively through phone calls, no independent body monitoring their physical condition, psychological state is carrying out any activities. There are no other developments in the trial, the court hearings are proceeding at a predetermined pace, the outcome is predictable. We have repeatedly noted that the issue is political, the Armenian prisoners really have the status of hostages, since their release is linked to the resolution of matters on the political agenda. And the priority matter is the signing of the peace agreement [between Armenia and Azerbaijan]. Azerbaijan has formed a new lever with the prisoners’ issue, which has been used repeatedly. In our assessment, the release of the 23 Armenians [in Baku] will be possible exclusively in the context of this process, through a political path,” Sahakyan said.

She noted that taking into account the fact of the initialing of the “peace treaty” in Washington DC on August 8, at this phase she highly assesses the possibility of these prisoners’ return.

Also, Sahakyan recalled that during the meetings held in Washington last week, US President Donald Trump also had raised the issue of these prisoners.

“I believe a humanitarian gesture will be made, and after the signing of the documents, the issue of their return will be resolved. Concerns may be related to the question of whether the return will take place in phases or whether the 23 prisoners will be repatriated at once. I do not rule out that Azerbaijan will go for a phased option,” Sahakyan added.

She noted that as a result of the fact-finding activities carried out, they were able to document at least 80 cases of captivity which were not accepted and confirmed by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“Since Azerbaijan has denied through various channels that these persons are in its custody, from a human rights perspective this group has changed its legal regime, and we are dealing with forcibly missing persons. It is about at least 80 cases, but we do not rule out that the numbers are incomparably higher,” added Siranush Sahakyan.